pv shows progress on anything you pipe
A pg_restore or a gzip of a large file gives no sign of life. pv sits in the pipe and shows throughput and an ETA.
pv backup.dump | pg_restore -d app
tar cf - src | pv -s $(du -sb src | cut -f1) | gzip > src.tgz-s gives it the total size so the ETA is real.
shell